# Adele Fornarino

> Australian submission grappler, first Australian ADCC World Champion (2024 double gold at −55 kg and absolute), and 2025 IBJJF black belt No-Gi World Champion.

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- **Source site:** Ossmeta (https://ossmeta.com)
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-16

## Identity

- **Name:** Adele Fornarino
- **Full name:** Adele Marie Fornarino
- **Nickname:** Daddy
- **Belt:** black belt
- **Team:** Dominance MMA / Atos Jiu-Jitsu
- **Nationality:** Australia
- **Born:** 1999-09-17
- **Birthplace:** Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- **Weight class:** Light-feather / featherweight (≈53–56.5 kg / 117–125 lb; ADCC −55 kg)
- **Height:** 5'6" (168 cm)

## Biography

Adele Marie Fornarino was born on September 17, 1999, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and raised in a family with conventional corporate careers rather than a martial-arts background. A sporty child who followed her older brother into activities, she played competitive soccer from ages 7 to 14. Around age 10, intending one day to become a police officer, she searched online for martial arts near her home and enrolled at what turned out to be a Brazilian jiu-jitsu gym—Dominance MMA. Her first instructors included David Hart, David Christopher, and Lincoln Handcock. Jiu-jitsu quickly overtook soccer: she preferred individual accountability over team reliance and found the mat work easier on her knees than sprinting as a striker.

She entered her first BJJ competition at age 12 and won. Limited female brackets pushed her into adult white-belt divisions as a teenager. A pivotal local result came at Grappling Tournaments Australia in 2015, which awarded her a paid trip to the 2016 IBJJF World Championship. There, as a juvenile blue belt, she became world champion—an experience that, guided by coach David Hart, showed her the global scale of competitive jiu-jitsu and helped set a professional path. By 18 she had committed to full-time competition, later training for a period in Perth under Jake O’Driscoll while remaining rooted in Melbourne’s Dominance system under Hart.

Fornarino’s brown-belt peak in 2022 made her an international name: she won the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship at featherweight, took ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials gold, and medaled widely on the continental circuit. She debuted at the 2022 ADCC World Championship in the −60 kg class but was eliminated in the opening round by Ffion Davies via rear naked choke. In December 2022, after roughly four years as a brown belt and about 13 years on the mats at Dominance MMA, Hart promoted her to black belt. She also began regular training camps at Atos Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego under André Galvão—first preparing for 2022 No-Gi Worlds—and has since represented Atos at selected events while remaining associated with Dominance MMA.

Her black-belt breakout was submission-heavy and no-gi focused. In 2023 she claimed IBJJF No-Gi Pan and European titles, silver at the Brazilian Nationals (to Mayssa Bastos) and at No-Gi Worlds (to Alex Enriquez), and another ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials crown in the newly created −55 kg division. Short-notice at Who’s Number One 22 in February 2024, she submitted Amanda “Tubby” Alequin with a leglock in 23 seconds—tying Nicky Ryan for the fastest finish in WNO history. That August at the 2024 ADCC World Championship in Las Vegas she delivered a historic double gold: at −55 kg she defeated Mayssa Bastos (decision), Jasmine Rocha (armbar), and Bianca Basílio (Mir lock); in absolute she submitted Brianna Ste-Marie (armbar) and Rafaela Guedes (kneebar) before winning the final over Beatriz Mesquita on penalties. She became the first Australian ADCC World Champion, the first Australian absolute champion at the event, and—by her account and contemporary coverage—the lightest athlete to win the women’s open class. She finished 2024 undefeated with a high volume of wins and was widely cited among the year’s top female finishers.

Into 2025–2026 she remained a fixture of the pro circuit and ranking scene. She lost a high-profile split decision to Ffion Davies at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 11 (May 2025), submitted Jasmine Rocha at WNO 29, reached the Craig Jones Invitational 2 women’s $100k semifinals (decision loss to Helena Crevar), and in December 2025 won her first black-belt IBJJF World No-Gi title at featherweight—submitting all three opponents, including a 16-second ankle lock of Ana Mayordomo in the final—becoming Australia’s first IBJJF black-belt world champion. Early 2026 included a Polaris 35 win over Selma Vik and a UFC BJJ 7 kneebar victory over Alex Enriquez. FloGrappling has ranked her among the top pound-for-pound women’s no-gi athletes (including #3 P4P in late 2025, with top rankings at 115 and 125 lb). Known for a closed-guard hub game, armbars, and straight ankle locks, and publicly nicknamed “Daddy,” she also coaches (including with Absolute MMA in Melbourne) and has released instructional material on closed-guard fundamentals.

## Lineage

Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Jr > Jean Jacques Machado / Rigan Machado > John Will > David Hart > Adele Fornarino

## Instructors

- David Hart
- David Christopher
- Lincoln Handcock
- André Galvão (Atos camps)

## Signature techniques / game

- Armbar
- Straight ankle lock / Aoki lock
- Closed guard attacks
- Triangle choke
- Mir lock
- Kneebar
- Leg entanglements (heel hooks, toe holds)

## Major achievements

- 1st Place ADCC World Championship −55 kg (2024) — first Australian ADCC World Champion
- 1st Place ADCC World Championship Absolute (2024) — double gold same weekend; lightest women’s absolute champion in ADCC history
- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi — black belt featherweight (2025); first Australian IBJJF black-belt world champion
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi (2023)
- 1st Place IBJJF European Championship No-Gi (2023)
- 1st Place ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials (2022, 2023, 2024)
- 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi (2023)
- 2nd Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals / Campeonato Brasileiro (2023)
- GrappleFest U60 kg title superfight (2023)
- WNO submission wins incl. Amanda Alequin (23s, WNO 22, 2024 — tied fastest WNO finish), Anna Rodrigues (WNO 24), Sophia Cassella (WNO 25), Jasmine Rocha (WNO 29)
- Polaris 35 win over Selma Vik (2026)
- UFC BJJ 7 win over Alex Enriquez via kneebar (2026)
- FloGrappling top women’s no-gi rankings (incl. #3 pound-for-pound, late 2025; #1 at 115 lb / 125 lb per Absolute MMA bio)
- 2024 undefeated season (18 wins) — widely recognized among top female finishers of the year

## Colored belt highlights

- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi — brown belt featherweight (2022)
- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship — juvenile blue belt (2016)
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Pacific Championship gi & No-Gi, including absolute (2019, brown)
- 1st Place IBJJF European Open No-Gi (2022, brown)
- 1st Place AJP Oceania Continental Pro (2020, brown); AJP Australia National Pro (2019, brown)
- 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2019, brown); 2nd Place IBJJF Asian Open (2019, brown)
- Grappling Tournaments Australia champion (2015) — prize trip to 2016 IBJJF Worlds

## Official / social links

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adelefornarino/
- BJJ Fanatics: https://bjjfanatics.com/products/closed-guard-fundamentals-by-adele-fornarino

## Sources

- [BJJ Heroes — Adele Fornarino](https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/adele-fornarino)
- [Wikipedia — Adele Fornarino](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adele_Fornarino)
- [FloGrappling — From Down Under To The Top Of The Game](https://www.flograppling.com/articles/11608486-from-down-under-to-the-top-of-the-game-rising-star-adele-fornarino)
- [FloGrappling — Adele Fornarino profile](https://www.flograppling.com/people/12092302-adele-fornarino)
- [IBJJF — 2025 No-Gi Worlds black belt day 2 recap](https://ibjjf.com/news/2025-no-gi-worlds-black-belt-day-2-recap)
- [Absolute MMA — Coaching team (Adele Fornarino)](https://absolutemma.com.au/our-team/)
- [FloGrappling — Fastest WNO submission (vs. Alequin)](https://www.flograppling.com/articles/12058558-adele-fornarino-now-tied-with-nicky-ryan-for-fastest-submission-at-wno)
- [BJJ Fanatics — Closed Guard Fundamentals by Adele Fornarino](https://bjjfanatics.com/products/closed-guard-fundamentals-by-adele-fornarino)
- [Instagram — @adelefornarino](https://www.instagram.com/adelefornarino/)

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